Thank you for reading and reviewing previous chapter. I hardly could put off my smile after reading your lovely reviews

By the way, I forgot to mention that there will be an OC that will have more role than just a minor in this story, hope it won't bother you too much. But there are still some more chapters before we meet the OC though.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite

It was fall in Seireitei. Dry leaves were scattered all around the white road, coloring the plain with their brown. The leaves made a rustle as you walked on them, and as they blew in the wind. A fine poet like Kyouraku would make a poem about the season, but for someone who had weak body like Ukitake, this season and its cold air meant bed all day.

He had been on bed due to his fever for at least three days. Kyouraku, as his best friend and his roommate kept coming at least every two hour. He insisted to stay with his friend if Ukitake didn't decline it. Ukitake knew Kyouraku had had enough problems in communicating with his Zanpakutou, which he was trying hard to settle. Ukitake himself had a good relationship with his Sogyo No Kotowari. He felt that he should help Kyouraku out, but his inability to even stand for more than fifteen minutes stops him.

"Sorry for giving you more problem, Kyouraku."

"Nah, don't bother about it. I'll be back at three, by the way. Yama-jii forces me to have a boring extra lesson, he wants me to stay in my inner world longer and talk to her more." Kyouraku gave him a book. "And here is the book you want me to find in the library."

"Thank you. Anyway, by her, do you mean your Zanpakutou?"

"Yes, my Katen Kyokatsu. She is a bit hard to handle, you know. Loves to play around, and keeps asking me to play with her too." He sighed, but Ukitake could see his eyes sparkled a bit.

"It seems you enjoy it a lot. You two are quite the same." Ukitake smiled. In fact, both the Zanpakutou and Kyouraku share a lot of similarities if they were about games.

"Of course I enjoy it. But I think it's better if I could master her sooner, so Yama-jii would stop calling me for another extra lesson." He pouted, which made Ukitake laughing, but then his laugh turned to cough.

Kyouraku leaned to his friend. "Are you sure it's okay if I left you alone?"

"I'm fine, thanks. You don't need to worry and nurse me all the time." He spoke between his cough.

A sigh came from the brown haired boy, then he gave his friend a small grin. "I guess you're right. You need to find a girl to nurse you, probably she will help your conditions better." His grin grew wider. "I heard Retsu-chan is a fine young healer, the best in Kido healing class actually. Do you want me to bring her here?" And after watching flush on Ukitake's face and more cough, he went away laughing.

Ukitake spent his two hour reading a Kido book that Kyouraku brought. It was already three past twenty when he finished reading half of the book, so he believed Yamamoto-sensei was training Kyouraku harder than he expected.

Time went slower when he's alone. He decided to put down his book, there were some spell that he couldn't understand just by reading one book. He knew that library must have many books that would explain them thoroughly. Normally, Kyouraku would insist to bring him the book he needed, but since Kyouraku was not around, and he didn't want to give another trouble to his friend, he decided to go there by himself. A simple walked to library wouldn't kill him, right?

It only took five to ten minutes for him to reach the library from the dormitory by foot. But the wind and the chill it brought made the whole trip becomes more difficult for him. He suddenly felt that his decision to wear extra haori was a good choice after all. The cold air still made him shiver, but he bet it was much better than only wearing one clothes.

The library was not as quiet as the last time he visited it. There were at least sixteen students who sought for a shelter from the cold outside. He loved to see more of his friends were willing to visit the library, but not like this. Most of them were not reading nor studying at all. Two girls were giggling in the corner. Another girls group was chatting, so were the boys on his left. The girls greeted him, and then blushing when he gave a friendly smile and greeted them back. The boys waved him and called him to join them, which he declined politely.

"Why not, Ukitake? It's chilling outside, sure reading won't give you much warm. Come and join us, laugh is the medicine for any disease, you know?" insisted one of the boy.

"I'm very sorry, Kiritsubou-san. I have to go back to my room as soon as possible, moreover when it's chilling like this." He smiled than continue to find the book he need.

He passed another couple of girls who blushed as he smiled to them. He never paid much attention to the reaction that girls gave him, but Kyouraku said that it was because his charm. He chuckled, what charm did he have? And o grab any girl he wanted? Definitely not, it was Kyouraku's job, not his. He turned left to Kido section.

There were a lot of books in here. Too much for him to scan it one by one, he sighed. He took one book from the shelf and scanned the index. He put it back when he found nothing, took another book, and then put it back again. This pattern kept going since he could not find the explanation he needs. He did not realize that it had been a while he stood there scanning book by book. Suddenly he felt dizzy; the books looked like rolling in his eyes. The next second he knelt on the floor, one hand on his head, while the other tried to support his body. Some books fell from their shelf and spread around him.

"Are you alright?" a familiar calm voice approached him. He tried to turn around to meet the owner of the voice, but then his dizzy head betrayed him.

A soft hand rubbed his back, then he felt a warm sensation coming from the rub, spreading to his veins, his blood, and he started feeling better. He coughed a bit before he stole a glance to the curer. It was her, of course. No one else in the world had the same calmness and gentleness as her voice.

"Thank you, Unohana-san." He tried to stand on his feet back. She raised her hands to help him for a second, but that hesitated and dropped them back.

"I only made your blood stream works smoothly. Usually it makes someone feels better."

"Well, it works then. I do feel much better." He gave her a soft smile, but then coughed again. "Sorry, I have a weak body, and this cold air makes it worse."

"Yes, I heard about it. You have tuberculosis, right?" She watched him coughing attentively, and there were some concerns in her voice. "Do you realize that standing in a library for twenty minutes wouldn't make your condition better?"

He stared at her for a moment. She had heard about his condition? How much did she know about him? And the thought that she knew him more than he realized gave him some flush. He tries to cover his grogginess with a chuckle—and a cough.

"I didn't plan to fall while reading either. Ah, sorry for troubling you, I never hope you find me on that condition." Wait, what did he just say? Yes he didn't want her to find him on his weak condition, but why on earth he spilled it out loud?

He relieved that she seemed like didn't pay any attention on his last word. She just stared at him with some concern, almost like how the other healers looked at their patient, tried to examine him through their eyesight. He sighed, almost every people in the world gave him the look like someone who might collapse in a second, and she was the last person that he wanted to see him like that. So he knelt down and collected the books to avoid her eye.

He heard her sighing too; afterward she knelt down beside him and helped him collecting the books. "Let's head back to the cure room, you need to have more rest."

"Cure room? Ah, thank you Unohana-san, but I think I will go back to my room after I find the book I need." He put the books back on the shelf one by one.

"Girls are forbidden to come to boys' dorm. Besides, they provide some tea and herbs on the cure room, so I can make you a cup of tea and give you some medicine."

He almost dropped the books that he held after hearing her offer. It is offers, actually, plural form. He began to think that somehow the Kido she gave him had affected his ears and their ability to catch words correctly, because not even once he ever had a slight idea about her offer to take care of him. "That would be really nice, but I'm afraid I have to refuse it Unohana-san. I will find the book I need, and then I will have a rest on my room. You don't need to worry me; Kyouraku has taken care of me pretty well." He managed himself. He knew he would regret his refusal, but he was afraid that he could not control his blush if she stayed around him longer.

"I insist, Ukitake-san. To be honest, I doubt that Kyouraku-san can look after and heal you better than me. I do quite a humble a job at the cure room, at least."

Humble job was very understatement. He knew very well that the teachers had pointed her as the head of Students' Cure Room, which meant she was better than most of their teacher.

He tried to find another excuse, "I—I need to find a book first—"

"May I know what book is that, Ukitake-san? Maybe I can help you find it, but later. For now, you need to have some rest first."

"But—" he was ready to give her another excuse, but then he remembered the expression she gave to Kyouraku the other day. He gulped, following by a sigh and a nod. "Thank you then, Unohana-san."

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I always eager to read more reviews :)

See you on chapter 3!